Texas A&M-Kingsville college signs agreement with vet school

Latest News

Officials at Texas A&M University-Kingsville have recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Texas A&M University to provide up to five additional positions for A&M-Kingsville students over the next five years in the doctor of veterinary medicine program in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Students who have completed the curricular pre-requisites for the veterinary medicine program are eligible for the program.

“It will certainly recruit more potential incoming students into the animal science program which has a pre-vet option that incorporates the pre-requisites,” said Dr. Michelle Garcia, professor and research scientist in the department of animal, rangeland and wildlife sciences in the Dick and Mary Lewis Kleberg College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Human Sciences.

“This allows students to earn a bachelor’s degree in animal science while also completing the curricular requirements for the application to the college of veterinary medicine.”

“This agreement is of extreme importance and benefit to our university and the students in the Dick and Mary Lewis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Human Sciences,” said Dr. Shad Nelson, dean of the college. “This agreement opens the door for more of our students, especially those from South Texas and rural communities, to obtain their dreams of becoming a veterinarian with a higher probability that many will go back to serve their hometown or rural communities where they are highly needed.

“More importantly, Texas A&M is the only doctoral degree in veterinary medicine in Texas and they only have 132 slots for students from all over the United States,” he added. “This limits the number of students from Texas A&M-Kingsville that can get in despite meeting the qualifications for entrance. This allows for an additional five slots for our students above and beyond the 132 traditional slots.

“I know our students will be successful in this program because the students that have met the standards and requirements have proved their worth and have excelled in other programs,” Nelson said.